L’Ecuyer

L’Ecuyer ( The Squire ) is an engraving made by the Parisian artist Louis-Marin Bonnet , realized in the second half of 1700 in Paris.

Inside the matrix, the title is engraved on the lower center, whilst “ L. Bonnet direx ” is engraved on the lower right. The state of preservation is somewhat good, except for fungal foxing spread on the sides of the figure and some small stains, one of which is more evident on the lower center of the image. The right margin of the paper is fringed with tiny tears.

  Louis-Marin Bonnet lived from 1736 to 1793 in Paris. He was a painter and engraver, and as such he invented one of the first color-printing methods with many matrices, with a pastel-like effect. In 1769, he published a treatise titled Le Pastel en gravure inventé, et execute par Louis Bonnet about his new method. His workshop, in Rue St. Jacques since 1772, has produced many works of diverse quality: from nearly perfect printed reproductions of masterpieces in pastel colors to genre scenes and illustrations, like the one in this study, realized under his direction and always in line with the new technique of the pastel manner.

The work Le Petit Maitre is an amusing and typical 18 ^th -century illustration in costume, and probably the represented character is the protagonist of a 1734 comedy by Pierre de Marivaux. This excellent printing technique simulates perfectly the manner of the sanguine pencil.